Ground covers and tote bags are two articles typically needed for activities such as picnicking and suntanning. People engaging in these activities spread covers over a ground surface so that they can sit or lie on the ground without contacting or being soiled by the underlying dirt or sand. Various articles such as towels, books, suntan lotion, and food are used when engaging in these activities and a bag or tote is helpful in carrying these articles.
There are several designs of articles which alternatively function as a ground cover or a carrying bag. For examples of prior art cover-tote apparatuses, please refer to the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,029, issued Dec. 27, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,978, issued Feb. 12, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,812, issued Jul. 6, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,247, issued Dec. 6, 1988; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,545, issued Apr. 19, 1988. These prior art cover-tote apparatuses allow a user to use one apparatus as a ground cover for sitting or lying thereon and also as a bag for carrying articles.
In general, the cover-tote apparatuses of the prior art are constructed from a sheet of pliable fabric that forms a ground cover. The covers may have a variety of shapes but are typically rectangular or circular. Extending along the outer border of the covers is a drawstring. The cover and attached drawstring form a cover-tote apparatus that is positionable between a ground covering position and a tote position for carrying articles to and from the area where the ground cover is needed.
To place a cover-tote apparatus in a ground covering position, a user spreads open the cover and lays one side of the cover against the ground surface. The underside of the cover lays adjacent to the ground surface and the upperside of the cover lays adjacent to the user sitting or lying thereon. The underside of the cover is likely to become soiled or sandy from contacting the underlying ground, while the upper side of the cover only contacts the user and thus remains relatively clean.
The cover-tote apparatus, after use as a ground cover, converts into a carrying bag by using the drawstring to draw the outer borders of the cover together such that a bag with a string handle is formed. The upperside of the cover forms the interior side of the bag, while the underside of the cover forms the exterior side of the bag.
One disadvantage of the prior art cover-tote apparatuses is that a cover used to overlay a relatively large surface area will result in a carrying bag that is unduly large and cumbersome for the user to carry.
Another problem with the prior art cover-tote apparatuses is that the exterior side of the carrying bag normally becomes soiled when the cover-tote apparatus is used as a ground cover and this soiled side of the bag will undesireably rub against the user carrying the bag. The exterior side of the carrying bag is normally soiled because of the dual function of the cover-tote apparatus. One side of the cover-tote apparatus alternatively acts as the underside of the cover when the cover-tote apparatus is in a covering position and as the exterior side of the carrying bag when the cover-tote apparatus is in a tote position. When in the covering position, the underside of the cover becomes unavoidably soiled from the adjacent ground surface. This soiled side of the cover becomes the exterior side of the carrying bag when the cover is converted from the ground covering position to the tote position. The soiled, exterior side of the carrying bag undesireably rubs against the user carrying the bag, causing any soil on the cover to be rubbed against the person.
Another problem with the prior art cover-tote apparatuses is that sand or soil spread onto portions of the upper side of the cover will fall into the bag section when the cover-tote apparatus is placed into the tote position.